Milwaukee, Minnesota Allan Mindel USA 2003
Film Blanc is coming. As soon as the light dims and the trees shed their leaves, rural inhabitants with an iota of self-preservation should migrate to cosy suburbs for the winter. A multitude of ills will be isolated and covered with the first blizzard. A snowy cousin to Film Noir, Film Blanc makes visiting the winter countryside a perilous proposition. If someone isn’t trying to kill his wife (Fargo), find his wife’s killer (Fear X) or simply conceal mob money (A Simple Plan) there’s just sure to be something else going on: something double-crossing, devious and decidedly lethal. Head far enough north and Film Blanc can even work in the summer: snow becomes replaced by a constant whiteout of daylight (Insomnia).
Isolation is a normal oppressive consequence of Film Blanc and thanks to his fishing, Albert (played by Troy Burroughs) is immune to it. Albert is a champion ice fisherman who up until recently lived with his domineering mother. He is also borderline mentally handicapped. Upon her death all manner of undesirables arrive in town, looking to cash in on all Albert’s prize money; prospective girlfriend Tuey (Alison Folland), long lost father Jerry (Randy Quaid) and even nice old Mr McNally (Bruce Dern) appears to hold a suspect past.
Merely with the title and a hint of snow, Alan Mindel marks the ground with Milwaukee, Minnesota his debut feature. Albert may be impervious to the effects of Film Blanc outside but a dead mother leaves more than a corpse. The family house is barren, dilated in every shot by set design that mourns Albert’s mother. A wind chime soundtrack jangles to imperceptible draughts invoking the ice outside. As the events of the film populate his home with impostors, it starts to feel emptier still. Shot with natural light, repeated setups peer as if hidden through doors or around trees uncannily like holes in the ice. Perhaps a metaphor is straining to be hooked.
Milwaukee, Minnesota is the perennial rural-urban exchange with the normal black and white character demarcations. Albert is a crude parody on the urban perception of country folk taken a half step further along the sympathy curve. Troy Burroughs performance is hard to fault and harder to praise. Randy Quaid’s Jerry, oozes slime-ball charm like few others can. An orange suntan, a leather jacket and a moustache all seem to indicate something about his character which Albert is alone in not detecting. The others are vaguer to begin with, but soon adhere to well acted convention. The only anomaly is Tuey’s near rape at the hands of a suspender wearing transvestite. Around this point a wider, far nastier world is glimpsed. Soon enough though, a fresh hole is dug in the ice.
